God Never Left the Public Schools
February 15, 2017
'In light of the recent rise of the Council for National Policy, as noted by the Washington Post -
Two notes for Christians who want God "back in public school classrooms."
First, according to orthodox Christian theology, God is omnipresent and, therefore, has never, not for one moment, been absent from any classroom, public or otherwise. And, if the Christian doctrine is true (we believe it is), this has far reaching implications with respect to the state of affairs in classrooms, especially inasmuch as Christians who also occupy said classrooms live out their lives as disciples of Jesus empowered by the Holy Spirit. That is, God is there, has always been there, and always will be there, and we can be there with God and our neighbors if we so choose.
Second, for those Christians who want a Constantinian approach to church and state, one that coerces adherence to Christianity, or who want a theocracy that legislates adherence to Christianity, please realize that to do so actually undermines Christianity by negating faith and failing the opportunity to persuade others by means of the more excellent way of love that is constitutive of Christianity.
As Christians we do not impose the truth, we propose the truth. And we do so in love, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name.
All of us at Toward the Truth were educated in public schools well after the 1962 Engel v Vitale ruling, the Supreme Court ruling often noted as "taking God out of the classroom." Not once were any of us unable to be a witness for Jesus because the "government" hindered us, nor was God "absent" from our schools.
Now is not the time to "seize the day" and impose our beliefs on American society. Now is the time to love as we never have before. We should love our neighbors, love the truth, and love God enough to actually trust that the way of love is better - far better - than the way of fear exhibited by those who wish to impose their religious beliefs on others.
Two notes for Christians who want God "back in public school classrooms."
First, according to orthodox Christian theology, God is omnipresent and, therefore, has never, not for one moment, been absent from any classroom, public or otherwise. And, if the Christian doctrine is true (we believe it is), this has far reaching implications with respect to the state of affairs in classrooms, especially inasmuch as Christians who also occupy said classrooms live out their lives as disciples of Jesus empowered by the Holy Spirit. That is, God is there, has always been there, and always will be there, and we can be there with God and our neighbors if we so choose.
Second, for those Christians who want a Constantinian approach to church and state, one that coerces adherence to Christianity, or who want a theocracy that legislates adherence to Christianity, please realize that to do so actually undermines Christianity by negating faith and failing the opportunity to persuade others by means of the more excellent way of love that is constitutive of Christianity.
As Christians we do not impose the truth, we propose the truth. And we do so in love, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name.
All of us at Toward the Truth were educated in public schools well after the 1962 Engel v Vitale ruling, the Supreme Court ruling often noted as "taking God out of the classroom." Not once were any of us unable to be a witness for Jesus because the "government" hindered us, nor was God "absent" from our schools.
Now is not the time to "seize the day" and impose our beliefs on American society. Now is the time to love as we never have before. We should love our neighbors, love the truth, and love God enough to actually trust that the way of love is better - far better - than the way of fear exhibited by those who wish to impose their religious beliefs on others.
